Bristol Aggie toy drive shatters record

DIGHTON – The Bristol Aggie toy drive was so successful the students jammed the register at Walmart when they went out shopping because they had so many items.

“Three-quarters of the way through, the register had reached its item limit. The manager said he’d never seen that happen before,” said Beth Savage, science teacher and Student Council adviser at Bristol County Agricultural High School.

The Student Council organized the two-week annual holiday drive that ended on Friday with a record total raised of $6,557.66, Savage said.

Then on Monday, Dec. 18, after school Savage took a dozen students with her to Walmart on Route 44 in Raynham to purchase hundreds of toys for children who might otherwise go without a gift on Christmas morning. The gifts ranged from small items to bicycles for children of all ages.

They also purchased gift cards for fellow Aggie students whose families might not have the means to buy holiday gifts this year, Savage said.

Each of the seven vocational majors competed against each other to raise the most money, filling seven jars with coins. Dollar bills counted against you as negative points.

"So they could ‘sabotage’ each other by putting bills in another team’s jar to stoke the fires of competition,” Savage said.

And it sure worked.

The kids shattered their old record, set just last year, of $4,000 total raised, Savage said.

Tuesday morning was distribution day at the school.

Representatives from the Dighton Lions Club and PACE visited the school to pick up the toys to be given out to families in need for the holidays. PACE (People Acting in Community Endeavors) is a non-profit organization that assists lower income residents of the greater New Bedford area.

Savage said the Aggie students get a big kick out of holiday shopping for the toy drive.

They filled numerous carts at Walmart Monday afternoon and each item was picked with care, not just grabbed off the shelf.

“The kids have such a good time shopping for toys, thinking about what they would have liked when they were younger or things they think are cool now” if the gift is for an older child, Savage said.

Aggie is a close-knit community and that fosters a caring spirit in the students, Savage said.

“At Bristol Aggie there’s a consistent theme that it’s important to look after others,” she said.

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